Australian Cameron Smith went into the lead ball with his name Cameron Young before the third round of 13 and 11 strokes under par, respectively.
The Cameron duo played relatively stably before a mistake on the twelfth hole made it to Smith while Young erred on the fifteenth. The misses resulted in a double bogey and both will start the fourth round of 12 strokes under par.
At the same time, other players on the court were significantly hotter.
The hottest? Norwegian star Viktor Hovland and Northern Irish diton Rory McIlroy, who played together in the ball behind.
Aiming at the first major
Hovland impressed by walking around completely bogey-free, among other things after a fantastic pair save from the road on the tough 17th hole, called “Road Hole”.
– It was delightful. I’ve been playing lousy golf lately so it’s nice that it’s turning now, and especially here. The audience was fantastic and playing with Rory (McIlroy) made it a special day, says Viktor Hovland.
The Norwegian, who has never won a major, continues:
– I’m probably an underdog but I have nothing against it. Hopefully we can push each other again tomorrow. I’ve never been in a similar situation in my career, but it’s the same feeling no matter what you play for.
“Need to do something similar”
For McIlroy, it was bogey on the same hole, but he was able to sign a fantastic eagle on the tenth hole after hitting out of the bunker. McIlroy, with four majors on his resume, has not won any since 2014.
– It was really good. Every time you start a couple of strokes behind, this is the kind of round you see in front of you. Viktor (Hovland) and I lifted each other and are in a good position for tomorrow. I know I will have to do something similar then but I look forward to it, says Rory McIlroy.
Both players went around six strokes under par and are a total of 16 strokes under par. Tomorrow they will play together again, in a leader ball, when everything is to be decided.